* If when you walk in the door and one housemate is asleep and the other mentions that the main reason we're not going out is because of said mood re family member dying, and you then ask what is for dinner ....

I called my housemate and she soothed my conscience by insisting I just needed to search a little more, they must be in the house somewhere, but if I had to leave without my keys, she would let me in the flat later that evening.

I'd expected to find the house intriguing, because it belonged to my Sparring Partner and I knew he was my kind of housemate, but I hadn't expected the house to hush as I entered, holding its breath to see if I would like it.

Meanwhile, today I had fun in Atlantic City with the family -- an annual tradition, in honor of one of my parents' housemate's mother, whom I consider a third parent the housemate, not his mother -- and came home to nifty-cool episodes of Heroes and Studio 60.

"In white culture, rent is allocated among housemates through a system of weights, measures, and woolen sweaters. First, each housemate is weighed and the results are recorded on the underside of separate toads, which are then set free within the house. Next, the forearm of each housemate is measured from elbow to wrist, and each measurement is recorded on a separate spool of thread. Then, each housemate puts on a woolen sweater embroidered with a macramé flower. The spools of thread are placed inside a pillowcase and each housemate draws one. The number recorded on the spool is the length in leagues of wool yarn that is unwound from the bottom of that housemate's woolen sweater. The housemate then uses that yarn to create a partition in the home, within which the housemate is entitled to roam. At noon the next day, each housemate collects the toads that are in his or her partition and adds the weights on their bellies together. The percentage that this amount represents of the combined weight of all the housemates is calculated, and that is the percentage of the rent that housemate is responsible for. The toads are then eaten in a psychedelic ritual to the tunes of the first Jefferson Airplane album."- Kevin Erickson, 'Traditions In White Culture', mcsweeneys.net